Shane was menaced by what may have been a werewolf on one occasion when he was lost in the woods near Blind River. Fortunately, he escaped. Or it may be that his personal "aura" proved too strong for the creature and it opted to leave him alone.

Wow, fambly -it are amazin' we is so tuned in to the same wave links as to eschew all the silly Vampire novels and spin-offs on the books on CD rack at Cracker Barrel.

All together now, diahrhect all our thought waves as one to "Cracker Barrel" to cause some new interesting books to appear as I seem to have made enough trips north over the last 6 months to have exhausted the supply and now am reduced to Scott Trudow novels to accompany me on my weekly journey.

How about some good non-fiction, or some new, top-notch "young adult" fantasy or sci-fi?

Janie, I've been loading recorded books into the "library" for such things in Windows Media Player for my mp3 player. And then I lost the mp3 player. The files are still here. Do you have a DVD drive or a BluRay drive on your computer? I can load up some of these and send them along. Agatha Christie, John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Georgette Heyer (yes! Those old regency novels from the 1960s and 70s are turning up on recorded books. I haven't listened to any yet, though I read them all when I was a teen).

I'm kicking myself over the player. Maybe it fell out on the shuttle bus at work. I need to see if there is a lost and found. It might be right here in plain sight in the house - it's so small, and my house is so cluttered - you see the problem. I looked in my pickup, it isn't in any of the crevices around the seat. At least some of these files would go to some good!

Mutant fruit flies have helped solve one of the biggest puzzles in genetics: how the stress of starvation or drug addiction can pass on its ill effects to the sufferer's children and grandchildren.

Stress is thought to cause "epigenetic" changes that do not alter the sequence of DNA but leave chemical marks on genes that dictate how active they are. Previous studies have shown that if mice are stressed for two weeks after birth, their offspring will show signs of depression and anxiety, despite enjoying the usual levels of maternal care. And there is mounting evidence that common health problems including diabetes, obesity, mental illness and even fear could be the result of stress on parents and grandparents.

However, until now attempts to identify changes in inherited DNA that might explain how these effects are passed on have failed.

Now, Shunsuke Ishii at the Riken Tsukuba Institute in Ibaraki, Japan, and colleagues have identified a molecular mechanism by which the effects of stress can be handed down without altering genes or DNA.

(New Scientist)

Most interesting--inheritable stress!! The says a lot about memetic patterns in families, indirectly. Big hmmmmmm.

Poor, poor Mom. Alone and palely loitering amidst the bar girls and the beer. And Mom? next time you go slumming, leave your blackjack and brass knuckles at home. You know what the nice policeman said he'd do the next time he caught you with them.

Ach! The ennui. Really, gentlemen, you must come up with something more diverting to sustain my interest in this thread, rather than maundering on endlessly about "Mom". I know you can do better than that. Don't disappoint me.

Quiet down now, my creations. Don't fight or I'll have to stop thinking of you for a few moments and you know what THAT would mean -- your brief nonexistence. If you doubt this, remember what happened to Martin Gibson.

This Raparree creature actually seems to believe that it created everyone and everything. Perhaps it is deluding itself, but perhaps I should send some Examiners to determine the truth of the matter. They can repair self-delusion, but if it is more than that I will have to step in. In the meantime, have courage and continue with your petty lives knowing that I will care for you.

By the way, I know a man (?) named Shane and he is under the extremely false impression that ALL women desire him! That degree of presumption more or less equals the grandiosity of Rapparee's exaggerated view of himself and his place in the Universe.

Perhaps these two individuals are psychically linked at the Oversoul level! That could explain their instinctive deep antipathy toward one another, as each one finds the reflection of himself in the other to be intolerable.

"Send in the Examiners." Oh, right! I created this "Intergargleatic Overlard" anyway, just as I created everything else. As for Shame and I doing some sort of soul-sharing gig, I'd know about it if it were true. Shame is the result of a bit of undigested applejack I had one evening -- he was created when I got sick to my stomach.

Poor old Mom, scared to death down only 5th from the bottom. Ugly thugs wanting to beat her up and steal her Social Security pittance, others best left undescribed who would steal her last drops of muscatel and then cast her aside into the Gutter Of The Forgotten Threads.

WELL! I cared enough to do my very best and she said, "Y-y-a know, yer still (hic!) my fav'it kid (hic!)." She's in bed now, sleeping it off napping, so keep the noise down.

Good morning, Mother of All Bullshit!! Here is a French chocolate-coated Doughnut on a paper towel. Here is a slightly green banana. I know you will delight in these things. Do not hesitate. You are among friends.